[00:06.09]Lesson 89 1 Dialogue
[00:11.52]The White family on holiday in Egypt.
[00:15.88]They are staying in a hotel in Aswan.
[00:20.01]They are now at breakfast,talking about the plan for their trip.
[00:25.26]What shall we do today?
[00:28.42]Well,there are several things we could do.
[00:33.07]We could visit the town of Aswan.
[00:37.15]There are plenty of interesting places to visit.
[00:41.59]I'd prefer to do that tomorrow.
[00:45.84]I don't feel like walking very much today.
[00:50.10]I'd like to do some shopping,but not during the day.
[00:54.86]Maybe we could go shopping this evening.
[00:58.70]Can't we visit the High Dam?
[01:02.75]I've read a lot about it:it's the biggest in the world.
[01:07.71]If we go to visit the High Dam,
[01:11.26]we can take a boat to visit the temple at Abu Simbel.
[01:16.43]It's on the edge of the lake that has been made by the dam.
[01:21.89]I think we should do that another day.
[01:26.05]Then we can leave early in the morning before it gets too hot.
[01:31.30]I'd like to take a boat on the River Nile.
[01:35.45]It's a lovely windy day today.
[01:39.60]Then we can see Aswan without walking too much.
[01:44.65]How about that?
[01:47.81]I think that's a good idea.
[01:51.26]Then anyone who wants to can go for a walk round Aswan after the boat trip.
[01:59.12]You'd better take a hat.
[02:02.17]The sun will burn you if you're not careful.
[02:06.75]Lesson 90 Reading
[02:15.39]Read the passage to find the answer to this question:
[02:20.46]Why was the temple in danger?
[02:24.90]ASWAN DAM
[02:28.06]Three of the biggest man-made projects in the world are the Great Wall of China,
[02:35.72]the Pyramids of Egypt and the Aswan High Dam,which is also in Egypt.
[02:42.80]The High Dam at Aswan was completed in 1970.
[02:48.25]It was built for several reasons.
[02:52.09]First,the River Nile used to flood large areas at the same time every year
[02:59.36]and destroyed houses and crops.
[03:03.33]The new dam controls the waters of the Nile
[03:08.29]so that they now run regularly all through the year.
[03:13.65]Second,electricity can now be made from the water
[03:19.29]which rushes through the base of the dam.
[03:23.65]Now about 20-50% of the electricity which Egypt needs is produced from this dam.
[03:32.61]The dam,which is the biggest in the world,is 3,830 metres long.
[03:40.97]It is 980 metres wide at the base and 40 metres wide at the top.
[03:49.22]The lake that has been made by the dam is about 500 kilometres long.
[03:56.38]Before they began to build the dam,
[04:00.74]people already knew that there were going to be several problems.
[04:06.39]As a result of the dam the water level of the lake was going to rise by 63 metres.
[04:14.56]It would be necessary to move 53,000 people from their villages.
[04:20.62]Also,around the area of Aswan there are a lot of important old temples,
[04:28.07]which date from about 1250 BC.
[04:33.03]These temples were in danger;when the dam was finished,
[04:38.49]many of them would be covered by the waters of the new lake.
[04:43.95]One of the most important temples in danger was the one at Abu Simbel.
[04:50.72]It was carved in the rock and had on the outside four large stone figures,
[04:57.56]each of which was 20 metres high.
[05:02.11]Engineers studied the problem
[05:05.63]and suggested several different plans for rescuing the temple.
[05:10.60]Lesson 91 1 Reading
[05:21.04]THE RESCUE OF ABU SIMBEL
[05:24.60]The engineers considered all the possible plans.
[05:29.74]At last,they decided to move the whole temple stone by stone
[05:35.10]and rebuild it above the water level of the new lake.
[05:39.85]The project lasted 4 years and cost 1 billion US dollars.
[05:46.02]In all,1700 workers and 200 other people worked on the project.
[05:53.38]First,each stone was marked with a number.
[05:58.35]The pieces of stone were then carried to the new place for the temple,
[06:03.91]60 metres higher up the hill.
[06:07.67]The project was successfully completed in 1966
[06:13.84]Today you can either fly to Abu Simbel or you can take a boat from across the lake.
[06:20.81]There,by the waters of the new lake,
[06:25.36]you can see the tall stone figures and visit the temples of the gods.
[06:31.29]The place is quiet and very beautiful.
[06:36.04]All the visitors who go there
[06:40.30]believe that it was right that the temple was rescued. |